Snow
by Hopeful Writer
Summary: Rika thinks about her hard childhood before an unexpected friend visits her. But then the past comes back to find her.


Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Stop asking me if you can have joint custody! I do own Kaji, though. Well, sort of. Read the fic to understand.

LiLVarajon: I want to do a fic. I've only done them before with the others. 

HW: Okay. You can do one on your own. Just introduce it and do the shout out and summary.

LiLVarajon: Okay. Shout outs to Dreamer4, Super Crash, EeyoreP, Izzychick, and Fallen_Angel. This is about Rika, basically, her hard past, and why she's so bitter. It's a Rulee (that's what I call it). 

HW: Before someone interrupts this, introduce the fic.

LiLVarajon: Sure. This is Snow by me, LiLVarajon.

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**__**

SNOW

By: Hopeful Writer

Dictated by: LiLVarajon

Rika stared longingly out at the untainted, white snow. _I wish I wasn't sick,_ she thought weakly. _I love the snow._ The snow was her savior from a world of bitter hatred and violence. In it, she lost herself to the rush of emotions the frozen water brought upon her. She always played by herself, though. Ever since Kaji.

*Flashback*

"Come on, Rika," called a little, blue-haired boy. He was only six, but he was a leader already.

"Kaji, I can't keep up," his friend admitted, a young girl with a thirst for adventure.

Kaji giggled. "You're slow," he teased, stopping to give her a hand up a snowy hill.

She crossed her arms, pouting. "I am not," she retorted, glaring at him through beady, five-year-old eyes.

He laughed again. "Okay, Speedy. Then keep up with me." With that, the carefree youth broke into a run, followed closely by his accomplice.

"I've got you!" she cried triumphantly, tackling him to the ground, sending both of them rolling down the hill. They collapsed at the bottom, Kaji making a weak snow angel, and Rika lying on her back in the snow, staring at the grayish-white sky. "It's pretty, Kaji. It reminds me of the snow."

Kaji followed her gaze and smiled. "It _is _pretty," he agreed. "It reminds me of you."

"What do you mean?"

"It's pretty, but you never know what's going to happen next. It could rain or be sunny. Kind of like you."

Rika shrugged. "I feel sunny around you," she remarked.

Kaji thought that over for a second. "Hey, Rika. Remember what we saw my brother doing? Kissing a girl? Well, I asked him about it later, and he said he was in love."

"What's love?" Rika never hesitated to ask about things she didn't know.

"Hector said that love is when you really feel good about someone, and you want to be with them a lot."

"Like us?"

"I don't know. I like to be around you. And I can talk to you and stuff."

"Yeah, me too."

Kaji smiled again, a pure smile that traveled all the way to his eyes. "Okay, then I love you, Rika."

Rika pondered the statement for a moment before beaming and replying, "I love you, too."

Kaji looked puzzled. "Now what?"

"Should we kiss like Hector did?"

"Okay." With that, Rika and Kaji leaned in. As their lips met, both closed their eyes. The sight would have been very funny to see from an onlooker's point of view. A six-year-old and a five-year-old were kissing on the snowy ground, unaware of more snow that fell from the sky.

Suddenly they pulled away, red-faced and smiling. After a moment to catch her breath, Rika exclaimed, "Hey, Kaji! It's snowing again."

Kaji laughed. "Yeah. We should go home before our parents get worried."

"Did Hector tell your Mommy and Daddy that he was in love?" Rika wondered as they started back up the hill.

"No, he said that I shouldn't tell them, either. He said some things are best left unsaid."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell about us."

Kaji shrugged. "Okay. Maybe we'll tell them when we're older."

"Yeah."

But Kaji moved a year later, and neither of them ever told their parents. As Hector told them, some things are best left unsaid.

*End Flashback*

Rika sighed and stared at the milky-white snow again. _I miss you, Kaji. Why did you have to move? You never told me._

*Flashback*

Kaji, now seven years old, tore across the hall to six-year-old Rika's apartment. He banged on the door, brushing tears of anger and hurt aside.

"Hi, Kaji," Rika said brightly as she opened the door. When she saw him, though, her smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"We're moving tomorrow," Kaji blurted, forgetting the speech he'd been planning to give his best friend.

Rika looked like she was going to cry. "Why?" she demanded, biting her lip.

Kaji shrugged morosely. "All I know is that Daddy did something bad, and we have to go away. I don't want to go, Rika."

"I don't want you to go, either. Stay there," she suddenly ordered, her eyes lighting up at a thought. She ran to her tiny bedroom and pulled something out of a little box. Dashing back, she extended her hand towards Kaji. "This is a promise ring. I promise never to forget you, even when I'm fourteen years old."

Kaji had an idea. "I'll be right back." He went back to his apartment and returned with a ring in his hand. "Here's my promise ring for you. I promise never to forget you, or any of the fun we had." He handed her the ring, and she slipped it on, admiring its comfort. He had her promise ring on.

Rika threw her arms around her best friend, and he let her cry on his shoulder for a moment, before Hector called, "Kaji! It's time to go, little guy."

"Bye, Rika," he whispered, staring at the ground as he walked to his family.

"Bye, Kaji!" she yelled down the hall, waving as he looked up at her for one last time. That was the last time she ever saw Kaji.

*End Flashback*

"Rika, there's someone here to see you."

Rika followed the sound of her mother's voice to the front door. She half-expected to see Kaji there, but she knew that was impossible. He'd never called her, never wrote to her. But she still wore his promise ring sometimes, especially at holiday time.

"Hey, Rika." It was Henry, a fellow tamer and rather good friend. It had been nearly a year and a half since they had learned about the digimon. Over the course of the time, Rika had finally been able to trust him and Goggle-head, or Takato. She was even able to trust Jeri, the new tamer.

"Hi, Henry. What's up?" Rika's mom took that as her cue to leave.

Henry shyly held out a get-well card. "Takato and I made this for you," he explained. "What do you have?"

Rika took the card delicately. "I _had_ the flu. It's almost gone, but my mom won't let me out of the house. I'm not contagious anymore, though."

"That's good."

"This is beautiful, Henry," Rika marveled, opening the card to see a pop-up design and a very pretty poem.

"Takato did the artwork," he admitted.

"The poem's beautiful, too."

"Thanks." He blushed a little. He looked away, at the back of the card. At Rika's hands. "Hey, Rika?" he suddenly began, his voice serious. 

"Yeah?"

"Um, that ring. Where'd you get it?" _That ring looks so familiar_, he realized, staring at it.

Rika glanced at her hand. She was wearing her promise ring. "Oh, my… friend gave me this a while ago. When I was six. Why?"

_It's her_, Henry thought weakly, his eyes growing wide. "Rika, that was… that was me."

Rika narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "It was given to me by my friend—"

"Kaji," Henry finished. "I'm Kaji. Do you want to know why I moved? I finally found out."

"Why?" This Rika needed to hear.

"I told you my dad did something bad, right? Well, it turned out that he came up with a software that made some people really mad. He was placed under the witness protection program and we've been moving ever since. I've been everything from Jeffrey to Mike to Rupert to Henry."

Rika's jaw dropped, but she remained dubious. "Tell me one thing that nobody would ever know," she ordered, staring her friend in the eye.

Henry took a deep breath. "When I was six and you were five, I told you I loved you, even though neither of us really understood love. We kissed on Christmas Eve for the first time."

Rika stared at him for a moment before throwing her arms around him and kissing his cheek. "Kaji," she whispered, as he held her close.

"I still have to be Henry," he reminded. "But we can know."

"Okay," she mumbled.

"Rika? I still love you."

"I love you, too, Henry." She carefully pressed her lips to his and held them there for a moment. "I missed you. I never forgot you."

"I never forgot you, either. It definitely hurt the first time I heard your name. I didn't know it was you, but I remembered you. God, I missed you so much." He kissed her again, then grinned. "Let's go play in the snow, Rika."

"My mom won't let me, Henry. I told you already."

Henry's smile grew more devious. "What she doesn't know, can't hurt her."

"Naughty boy," she teased cheerfully. 

He grabbed her hand. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Nope. Come on." With that, they set out into the pure, white snow, reliving old memories. _I'm home_, Rika thought. _I'm finally home, with the one I love._

~~~~~~

HW: That was really good, LiLVarajon.

LiLVarajon: Thanks. I finally got to write one on my own. Please review, people. Flames allowed, criticism appreciated, and compliments worshipped. Please tell me how you liked it or didn't like it, and why.

HW: That's a rap. Bye!


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